Desert Crossing
In the Journey to Risa '' |image= |series= |production=40358- |producer(s)= |story= Rick Berman, Brannon Braga and André Bormanis |script= André Bormanis |director= David Straiton |imdbref=tt0572201 |guests=Clancy Brown as Zobral, Charles Dennis as Chancellor Trelit and Brandon Karrer as Alien Man |previous_production=Fallen Hero |next_production=Two Days and Two Nights |episode=ENT S01E24 |airdate=8 May 2002 |previous_release=Fallen Hero |next_release=Two Days and Two Nights |story_date(s)= 12 February 2152 |previous_story=Fallen Hero |next_story=Two Days and Two Nights }} Summary Enterprise is on a course for Risa to take shore leave when they respond to a distress call from a ship experiencing engine problems. Its leader, Zobral, invites Captain Archer and Commander Tucker to his home planet. Later, Enterprise is hailed from the planet by Chancellor Trellit of the Torothan government, who tells Sub-Commander T'Pol that Zobral and his men are terrorists, and they will probably never see Archer and Trip again. She hails Archer to warn him, and he makes an excuse to leave. Zobral entreats them to stay, so he may explain the real reason for inviting Archer to the planet. In his home he tells Archer that after years of suffering abuse by the oppressive Torothan government, and steadily failing attempts of resistance against it, his people are in dire need, and have been searching for outside help. He then very respectfully begs Archer's assistance and use of Enterprise's resources to defeat his people's oppressors. Archer tells Zobral that he doesn't know what he can do, Zobral thinks he is only being humble, and tells Archer he had recently been told by a Suliban transport captain of Archer's outstanding bravery, exceptional abilities, and recent liberation of "thousands" of Suliban prisoners from a detention camp, defeating an entire army in the process. Before Archer and Trip are able to correct the story Zobral has related to them, the Torothan government begins bombarding the village. Archer and Tucker are reluctantly but quickly led to a shelter, where they remain until the house above them is destroyed. They then exit the shelter, grab survival packs from their shuttlepod and leave on foot, heading east across the desert to escape to another encampment. Eventually they take shelter from the heat in a deserted building, and Archer tends to Tucker, who is now suffering from heatstroke. Meanwhile, on Enterprise, Lieutenant Reed detects weapons fire on the surface, and Ensign Sato can't hail Archer as the region is being jammed. Trellit informs T'Pol that any shuttlepod entering the area will be considered an enemy vessel and fired upon. The Torothans also erect a dispersion field to prevent Enterprise from scanning the surface. Zobral rendezvous with Enterprise and is met by T'Pol and Reed, who inform him that although the account he received from the passing trader of Archer's liberation of the Suliban prisoners was indeed true, it was nonetheless wildly exaggerated, and that Archer was not such an invincible warrior as he was led to believe. Initially angered and disappointed, Zobral turns to leave, but is eventually persuaded to help T'Pol and Reed sneak a shuttlepod past the Torothan defenses in order to locate Archer and Trip. While searching for bio-signs, T'Pol observes a bombardment of the ruined encampment from a distant battery, and orders that a new course be set, believing the Torothans to have located them. After destroying the Torothan mortar, they land and collect the pair. Aboard Enterprise, Zobral prepares to leave, and Archer tells him that becoming involved in planetary conflicts is not the reason why Starfleet is exploring the galaxy. As they walk away, T'Pol tells Archer that he did the right thing, but Archer replies that he has a feeling that Zobral's cause is a cause worth fighting for. Errors and Explanations Nitpicking # What happened to the shuttlepod that Archer and Tucker abandoned?. Even more so than on Voyager, it should be hard to replace shuttles, and Enterprise allegedly has only two of them. They may have been able to retrieve it. # Why did Archer and Tucker head into the desert in the first place, when they could have used the shuttle to escape. It obviously had not been hit in the long artillery bombardment, and I think they would have had a good chance to outrun the slow projectiles. They probably believed it would be deliberately targeted by the government forces. Nit Central # SMT on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 8:21 pm: Zefram Cochrane's base was a camp surrounding a missile silo. Now, T'Pol tells us it was Bozeman, Montana? I had family living in Bozeman for a few years, and I think he would have mentioned it if there were a nuclear missile silo in the city limits. since Ted Turner and Jane Fonda owned substantial property there, and are well-known liberals, we REALLY would have heard it from them if their land was Ground Zero. :-) '' D.W. March on Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 6:26 am:''SMT, about the missile silos... Zefram Cochrane's missile silo housed a Titan V rocket, which as I understand currently doesn't exist. So there's obviously a military buildup leading to WW3, hence why a silo was built in Bozeman. Notes Category:Episodes Category:Enterprise